From Rick Warren's, "Purpose Driven Life"
(Chapter: It All Starts With God  Pages 18-21)

 

 

"I once got lost in the mountains. When I stopped to ask for directions to the campsite, I was told, ‘You can’t get there from here. You must start from the other side of the mountain." In the same way, you cannot arrive at your life’s purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God—and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.

 

Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose. The Bible say, "Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious life."  (Romans 8:6, The Message)

 

I have read many books that suggest ways to discover the purpose of my life. All of them could be classified as ‘self-help’ books because they approach the subject from a self-centered viewpoint. Self-help books, even Christian ones, usually offer the same predictable steps to finding life’s purpose: Consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up.

 

Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success. You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world’s standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. This Bible says, ‘Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.’ (Matthew 6:25 The Message)

 

This is not a self-help book. It is not about becoming what God created you to be. You have only two options. Your first option is speculation. This is what most people choose. They conjecture, they guess, they theorize. When people say, ‘I’ve always thought life is….,’ they mean, “This is the best guess I can come up with.’

 

For thousands of years, brilliant philosophers have discussed and speculated about the meaning of life. Philosophy is an important subject and has its uses, but when it comes to determining the purpose of life, even the wisest philosophers are just guessing.

 

Dr. Hugh Moorhead, a philosophy professor at Northeastern Illinois University, once wrote to 250 of the best-known philosophers, scientists, writers, and intellectuals in the world, asking them, “What is the meaning of life?’ He then published their responses in a book. Some offered their best guesses, some admitted that they just made up a purpose for life, and others were honest enough to say they were clueless. In fact, a number of famous intellectuals asked Professor Moorhead to write back and tell them if he discovered the purpose of life!

 

Fortunately, there is an alternative to speculation about the meaning and purpose of life. It’s revelation. We can turn to what god has revealed about life in his Word. The easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. The same is true for discovering your life’s purpose. Ask God.

 

God has not left us in the dark to wonder and guess. He has clearly revealed his five purposes for our lives through the Bible. It is our Owner’s Manual, explaining why we are alive, how life works, what to avoid, and what to expect in the future. It explains what no self-help or philosophy book could know. The Bible says, "God’s wisdom…goes deep into the interior of his purposes…It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us."

(I Corinthians 2:7 The Message)

 

God is not just the starting point of your life; he is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God’s Word, not the world’s wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation or inspirational stories. The Bible says, "It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living , part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." (Ephesians 1:11 The Message)

 

This verse gives us three insights into your purpose.

 

1.  You discover your identify and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

 

2.  God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about him. His purpose for your life predates your conception. He planned it before you existed, without your input! You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don’t get to choose your purpose.

 

3.  The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.